Hinge.



PATENTED JAN. 15, 1907.

'12. J; MADDEN.

HINGE.

APPLIOATION FILED JULY 11. 1904.

TERS m, w/lsumsmu, D. :4

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HINGE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 15, '19o'7.

Application filed July 11,1904. Serial Ira-216,141.

To all whom 7115 mayconcm'n:

Be it known that I, PATRICK J. MADDEN, a

citizen of the United States, residing. at Chicago, in the county ofCook and State of Illinois,,have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Hinges, of .which the following is a specification.

' The present invention relates to a springhnige, and is particularlyadapted for use in water-closets for holding the seat in an elevatedposition inclining rearward slightly from a vertical position.

In. devices of this class neatness, compactness, strength, durability,and efficiency are highly desirable, and, generally stated, the

object of the present invention is to provide a spring-hinge whichpossesses all of these desirable features.

The invention consists in the features of novelty that are hereinafterdescribed with reference to the accompanying drawings, which are madeapart of. this specification,- and which 1 1 Figure I is a frontelevation of a hinge enibodying the-invention, a portion of the seat of:a water-closet being indicated by dotted lines. Fig.- 2 is a verticalsection thereof on the-line-2 2,. Fig. 1', loo kingin the direction ofthe arrow, Fig, 3 is a sectional elevation thereof, thecutting plane ofthe section. being indicated: by the line 3 3', Fig; 2. Figs. 4 and 5-are vertical sections of Fig; 1'. on. the lines a and 5 5,.respectively.

In the drawings I have shown ahingefor' a water cl oset seat embodyingthe invention,

and a portion of! the seat is indicated bydotted lines at Al It will: beunderstood, however, that the hinge" may without departing from: myinvention: be used. on doors or other partsto be controlled, andwhatever this part i may be it is secured to one of the hinge members,which-in the instance given in the drawings consists of a metallic plateor fitting. B, which is preferably cast with: a tube or'barrel O, theends of which are open and occupied which form the other hinge membersand are rovidied with openings 6 for the passage of bolts on otherdevices by which they are secared to the fixture, door-jamb,. or otherob' "ect. J The invention is not limited to the brackets constructed ashere shown,.nor' is it limited! to a tube or barrel which is integralwith the plate B The large spuds D provide cylind ri'cal bearings uponwhich the tube or barrel turns as the hinge members move relatively toeach other and by which it is centered or held against lateraldisplacement.- By reason of the comparatively large wear= surfaces whichthey provide the joint will not quickly wear loose, and to still furthermaintain the joint in proper working order the" spuds are provided withflanges d, which engage the ends of the tube or barrel, and they areperforated for the passage of a tie-rod B, one end of which ispermanently secured to a head G, while the other end is provided at fwith a screw-thread for receiving a nut G.

Both the head G and the nut G are polygonal in order that the parts maybe tightened by meansof wrenches and are preferably provided withsimilar ornamental features in order to preserve the-symmetry of thedevice: Each of the spuds is provided with a con trally-disposed boss H,provided with alon'gitudinal notch or recess h, which notches orrecesses are disposed diametrically opposite to each other with relationto the tie-rod F. The outer ends of two springs I are slipped onto thesebosses, respectively, and the outer extremities t of said springs areturned in radially, so as to enter the notches h, and

thereby connect the ends of the springs to the bosses. v are slippedonto bosses j, formed on the oppo The inner ends of the springs sitesides of a cylindrical block J, the inner extremities i of the springsbeing turned in radially to enter longitudinal notches j the bossesrespectively, said notches being disposed diametrically opposite toeachother. The diameters of the springs and of the block J are such thatthey fit snugly in the tube or barrel O, and the block is provided witha number of radially-disposed screw-threaded sockets any of whichisadapted to receive a correspondingly-threaded screw K, which passesthrough an: opening 0 of the tube or barrel 0.

The tube or b arrel'is' provided also with an elongated opening 0,disposed soas to' give access to the sockets jf and admit a pin or keyfor turning the block when the screw K is removed. This isfor thepurpose of putting the springs under more or less initial tension if itis found desirable to do so; but in practice I have found it desirableto" make the springs exactly of such length that when the part A- isinits normal position they will be under no tension whatever. Theadvantage of this is that the life of the springs is increasedaccordingly.

It is well known that springs under concome necessary to adjust theblock in order. to compensate for the gradual weakenin or It wiil ofloss of elasticity of the springs. course be understood that the screw Kis the means for transmitting the power of the" springs from the blockto the barrel. By using two springs of equal length I am enabled tolocate the screw centrally with respect to all of the parts, and thishas the advantage of centralizing all of the strains and avoidingtorsional strains. The strains are distributed equally to the twobrackets and their connections, and this hasthe advantage of en ablingthe use of brackets of li hter construc tion than would be require ifthe entire strain of the springs were transmitted to one only of them.The use of two -springs the coils of which are pitched in oppositedirections has the additional advantage of enabling the use of lightersprings than would be necessary if only a single spring were used. In adevice of this class the load or, in other words, the work to be done bythe spring is a fixedand substantially invariable quantity, and thiswork must be done within a limited space or. distance through which theparts move. In addition to this in order to attain the adavantages ofneatness and compactness the mechanism for doing the work must beconfined in a limited space. With these fixed-factors taken intoconsideration the size of the. spring also becomes fixed withincomparatively narrow bounds.

Bearing in mind the advantage of having the sprin do its entire work inthe beforementione limited distance of movement,

there is a decided advantage in using a twopart spring. Its diameterbeing necessarily limited, it is necessary to use a comparatively greatnumber of coils in order to avoid straining it beyond the limit ofelasticity. If the given number of coils'were incorporated in a singlespring, in order that this spring might do the work required of it itwouldbe necesprevents the nut from working loose. 5

sary to make it of very much stronger wire than is required when thespring is made in two parts. This is particularly true when the partsare so constructed and arranged that the spring'is relieved of alltension when the member B is in normal position.

I prefer to make the two-part spring of slightly greater length than thespace provided for it between the spuds D, so that in order to draw theflanges (1 into contact with the ends of the barrel the spring must beslightly compressed. The advantage of this is that it increases thefriction between the head of the tie-rod, the nut on the tie-rod, andthe outer faces of the brackets, and thereby The block J is perforatedfor the passage of the acting other.'

tie-rod, and the notches 3' open into the perforation. They arepreferably disposed at diametrically oppositepoints in order to avoidunnecessary weakening of the block on one side and to more evenlydistribute the strains This latter is also the object in lothe slots hdiametrically opposite each 'As before intimated, the hinge is notlimited to use on any particular object, but being particularly adaptedfor use onwater-closet for holding the door or other object in either,

closed position or open position andthatit may be made either right orleft by simply turning the two-part spring end for end; The two parts ofthe spring are shown in thedrawing, as being made of separatepieces ofwire; but this is merely incidental, the essential feature being thatits two parts or.halv es shall be pitched in opposite directions What Iclaim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a device of the class described, the combination of a pair of.springs pitched in opposite directions, a tubular hinge membercontaining the springs, a block engaging the inner ends of the springs,adjustable means for transmitting pressure from the block to the tubularhinge member, and a pair of inde pendent brackets having cylindricalbearings for the outer'ends of the tubular hinge member, against whichbrackets the outer ends of the springs react, substantially asdescribed.

2. In a device of the class described, the combination of a pair ofsprings pitched in opposite directions, a tubular hinge membercontaining the springs, a block engaging the inner ends of the spring,adjustable means for transmitting pressure from the block to the.

tubular hinge member, a pair of" brackets having cylindrical bearingsfor the outer ends of the tubular hinge member and against which theouter ends of the springs react, and

means including a rod extending through the tubular hinge member forconnecting the bearings, substantially as described.

3. In a device of the class described, the combination of a pair ofsprings pitched in opposite directions, a tubular hinge member In-order.

against the extremities of the tubular hinge member, and means forforcing said brackets toward each other, substantially as described.

4. In a device of the class described the combination of a pair ofsprings pitched in opposite directions, a block to which the inner endsof the springs are attached, said block having a number of sockets, abarrel containing the springs and block and having an opening in itsside, a device passing through said opening and adapted to engage any ofsaid sockets, and cylindrical bearings upon which the outer ends of thebarrel are mounted and against which the outer ends of the springsreact, substantially as described.

5. In a device of the class described the combination of a'pair ofsprings pitched in opposite directions, means to which the outer ends ofthe springs are secured, a perforated block to which the inner ends ofthe springs are secured, a rod passing through the perforation of theblock, and supported by the means to which the outer ends of the springsare secured, a hinge member and means interposed between the block andhinge member for transmitting movement from one to the other,substantially as described.

6. In a device of the class described the combination of a pair ofsprings pitched in opposite directions, a hinge member, means interposedbetween the inner ends of said springs and the hinge member fortransmitting movement from one to the other, a pair of brackets to whichthe outer ends of said springs are connected, said brackets beingperforated, and a rod passing through the perforations of the bracketsand through the springs substantially as described.

7. In a device of the class described, the combination of a pair ofsprings pitched in opposite directions, a barrel containing the springs,a pair of brackets having spuds projecting into the ends of the barrel,means connecting the outer ends of the springs to the spuds and meansfor holding the spuds in place in the barrel, substantially asdescribed.

8. In a device of the class described, the combination of a pair ofsprings pitched in opposite directions, a perforated block having bossesprojecting into the inner ends of the springs, means for securing theinner ends of the springs to the block, a barrel containing the springsand block, means interposed between the block and the barrel fortransmitting movement from one to the other, a pair of brackets havingperforated spuds projecting into the ends of the barrel, said spudshaving bosses entering the outer ends of the springs, means for securingthe outer ends of the springs to the bosses, a tierod passing throughthe spuds and block, and means for holding the tie-rod in place,substantially as described.

PATRICK J. MADDEN.

Witnesses:

JOHN L. HANLEY, L. M. HOPKINS.

